Five Facts
by Ready-made Prodigy
Summary: Five facts, five facets, five pillars that make up the fabric of their existence. Brief though insightful character studies, starting with Watson. Now with Mycroft.
1. John H Watson

_A/N:__ Sorry I haven't been active at all here on ffnet. Rest assured, between minor projects I complete on lj, I have been putting the bulk of my effort (w/ copious help from PGF) on my upcoming series, The Princeling Apprentice, so that it may be released this summer. Anyways, here's something I've been working on, a meme started by a friend of mine on lj, which I'll expand over time with other characters. Please enjoy._

**Five Facts about John H. Watson**

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1) Watson has a horrific gambling problem. He's gambled on the eccentric young man in the chemical lab rumored to beat corpses being a good flatmate, gambled on whether or not following that same man on a murder investigation was a good idea, gambled on a friendship, gambled for his friend's life when all odds should have been against them, and he would gamble much more. Because when you gamble on the right thing or the right person, it stops being a random shot in the dark. It becomes faith.

2) Watson hates his older brother. He hates Andrew for all the summers they spent together, both working honest jobs to help their father who had turned to drink after his wife died. He hates Andrew for smiles and pats on the head and the way he used to shove Watson out of the way when their father was too pissed to remember where he was. He hates Andrew because he was his older brother and Andrew would Show Up and Be There when he was a kid. But then when they grew up, Andrew stopped being there, stopped showing up because where Watson had eventually conquered the life he had been born into, in Andrew, it had dragged him down to oblivion and worse. Watson hates Andrew for not being the brother he loved.

3) Watson is a wonderful pet owner. He leaves out food at appropriate times. Insists on grooming. He sets up regular appointments for doctoring. Exceedingly mindful to silent pleas for affection. Ever willing to take long walks, sometimes runs on occasion. Doesn't become angry when his possession go missing, are displaced, or ruined altogether. And always ready to claim ownership with dignity and pride, even when others are dubious as to why someone as wonderful as he would attach himself to such a creature. Gladstone doesn't mind that his owner's kind and generous caregiving is not for him alone.

4) Watson kills a lot of people for a living. He can tell with great accuracy and ability, how exactly the many people who come to him are going to die. It's a doctor's lot to succeed in this. Influenza, tuberculosis, eclampsia...he delivers this knowledge to his patients and they very correctly die from whatever he diagnoses. He only feels like a true healer when out with Holmes. When it comes to Holmes, Watson is somehow able to keep him alive over and over, time and time again. He feels like it evens out his score.

5) Watson would give his life for any number of worthy causes. He would give his life for his country (already proven once and would be proven again in the not distant enough future). He would give his life for that of a stranger, would give his life for that of a patient's if he could. But it was for Holmes that he clung to life with senseless fervor even when his body was dying around him, even though he was willing to forfeit it to ensure the success of a case and Holmes' safety. He lived because Holmes begged it of him.


	2. Mycroft Holmes

**Five Facts about Mycroft Holmes****  
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1) Mycroft Holmes is dedicated to his work. He serves his country, he does his duty, and he is always willing to make the hard choice. Because Mycroft is his father's son, as much as Sherlock is his mother's. And so, just like their father had waited twenty-four years, until Sherlock had graduated university and both his sons were fully independent of him, to join his wife by putting a bullet in his brain, Mycroft sits at his desk, drawing up plans and pretends that the needs of the few outweigh the needs of the many.

2) Mycroft lives alone. He has a valet of course, and a housekeeper, maid, and secondary chef, but when he returns exhausted from his work at Whitehall, there is no one waiting for him the foyer with an exasperated but fond expression saying, 'You look tired. You shouldn't work so hard, but I'm glad you finally made it. I'm glad you're okay. I was worried.' Mycroft genuinely values his solitude, however when he looks into his future he sees no change, no warmth to come home to. But when Sherlock comes to his house, Mycroft meets him at the door, takes his coat, scowls and says, "You look terrible, Sherlock. You are going to drive yourself to the ground, it's a wonder you were able to make it here at all. I'm glad it was under your own power and you are without injuries for once. Come in for God's sake. How is your amateur detective business coming along?" _I was worried_, he said with his eyes. _I know, thank you for that. I missed you_, Sherlock's say in return, very guardedly, though he knows it's a futile gesture and that Mycroft knows that he knows. Mycroft doesn't have anything to come home to, but he can make a home regardless, for the sake of another.

3) Mycroft Holmes loves food. He loves dining thrice daily with _at the very __**least**_, three courses per meal. Sherlock has always been the one with all the energy, taking up boxing and fencing and all manner of other sports or physical conditioning when bored and Mycroft has largely allowed him to. Because when you are only the second genius born in the family, it doesn't make you_ less_ special, it means you aren't special at all. So Mycroft lets Sherlock have his athleticism, his lean physique, and energy. Besides, Sherlock may not be able to remember, but Mycroft's fondest memories are of chocolate croissants his mother insisted on making by her own hand.

4) Mycroft did not like Victor Trevor. Mycroft prefers the Doctor infinitely more. Because whereas Trevor followed Sherlock out of novelty and interest, Watson follows him with loyalty and goodness. Only goodness grants extras, Mycroft had warned more than once. He found it singularly amusing when he had been doubly quoted in one of the Doctor's fanciful memoirs. To prove to his brother just how right he was, he keeps every issue of the Strand in a prominent place on his bookshelf and points them out to Sherlock every time he visits…Doctor in tow, of course.

5) Mycroft Holmes does not want children. Though he knows any progeny of his would have remarkable gifts and would undoubtedly leave their marks in history, he cannot bring himself to have one. Because he had already raised one good man and that effort had been so close in failing, he did not want to tempt fate a second time.

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_A/N: Mycroft Holmes is one tough nut to crack and is self-sacrificing to boot! Saint Mycroft, indeed._


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